VanGorder - New DC!

[ulukinatme]

We definitely need to work on tackling and taking better angles with the week off. Our run defense is decent. Our pass defense and rush still needs work. Credit Kessler though, even though his line was giving him lots of time to throw the ball on a number of throws, he moves VERY well in the pocket to avoid pressure. I do think he may have been over the line of scrimmage on a few of the throws where he was forced to move up in the pocket, but I digress...PAC-12 refs missed a number of calls Saturday. Despite the loads of yards we gave up through the air, the INTs were crucial late in the game. The defense came up big when they needed to, they stayed mentally tough and didn't fold.

 

[NDBoiler]

I don't think that's a fair comparison. I'm sure you could probably find one guy on the roster of those teams that is at least in the same ballpark as Redfield's academic load, but then it probably drops right off of the map. I don't KNOW that its accurate to say that it takes too many hours a week to learn VanGorder's game plan, or that every defensive player's academic load is incompatible with the amount of time it takes......... but I would NOT be surprised.

All the more reason for it not to be so complex to learn. BVG is not in tune with what it takes academically at ND if he doesn't see that as an issue, and that would be very disappointing if that is the case. A lack of understanding of his job and the environment he is working in.

 

[Irish_Passion]

BVG has struggled with first halves, but I gotta say that his halftime adjustments have been really damn good. I think that shows a lot from a DC when they can make those adjustments, it just comes a little too late. Hopefully he can start getting those adjustments earlier in the game.

 

[Black Irish]

BVG has struggled with first halves, but I gotta say that his halftime adjustments have been really damn good. I think that shows a lot from a DC when they can make those adjustments, it just comes a little too late. Hopefully he can start getting those adjustments earlier in the game.

I'd say 2nd half adjustments have been a strength of this team all around this season. They've either been coming back and winning it, except Clemson, but almost, or putting the game away. This team hasn't been folding in the 4th quarter like they were a few years back. I give the coaching staff full credit for that.

 

[ThePiombino]

BVG has struggled with first halves, but I gotta say that his halftime adjustments have been really damn good. I think that shows a lot from a DC when they can make those adjustments, it just comes a little too late. Hopefully he can start getting those adjustments earlier in the game.

No doubt his 2nd-half adjustments have been solid, but eventually he's going to dig himself a 1st=half hole that his 2nd-half ass can't get him out of.

 

[FDNYIrish1]

Comments like the one from Max always make me think of the quote
"Complexity is the enemy of execution"

 

[kmoose]

All the more reason for it not to be so complex to learn. BVG is not in tune with what it takes academically at ND if he doesn't see that as an issue, and that would be very disappointing if that is the case. A lack of understanding of his job and the environment he is working in.

Ok........... but this is only BVG's second year at ND. Obviously, I would say that he came in wanting to install his full-bore defense. In year 1, he figured out that he couldn't do that, given all of the other demands on players' time at ND. But how much of that was the D being too complicated, and how much was the injuries to his key starters?

So in year 2 he starts to dial it back, but he can't just field a high school football level defensive scheme. So he scales it back in increments. It will take some time to figure out where the balance is between demands from the school and demands from football.

Look at what Kelly is now doing with the offense... this offense is averaging almost 40 points (38.3) per game. It went from 26.31 ppg in 2010, to 29.23 in 2011, to 25.77 in 2012, to 27.08 in 2013, to 33 in 2014, to 38.3 so far in 2015.

Other coaches at other programs have done it faster, sure. But many of those coaches do not have the academic limitations that coaches at ND have. And by academic limitations, I don't mean how selective the University is for admission; I'm talking about the weekly academic workload that they have, once they get there. There's no doubt that ND football players are doing real work in real classes. And the recent academic scandals just go to show that the University will look for, identify, and punish any academic malfeasance, no matter how well you play football. So give VanGorder some time to get it all balanced out.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

They didn't like him at Georgia his first year, and his implementation was judged a failure.

The second year, there were some problems with it, but things were greatly improved.

By the third year things were off with a bang. What followed was about as stifling of a defensive implementation as college football has seen. Those next two years he won the Broyles Award.

Let us see how this season plays out.

BVG may have had less athleticism walking in to ND than he did at Georgia. There he put a First Rounder into the NFL (6) at least every year, including his first. At ND he came in with a different defense, manned by a different kind of player, in the bend but don't break 3-4 defense, built by Bob Diaco.

The other thing, if this does get lit like it did in Athens, BVG may be around for more than four years; which then would be a good thing!

 

[Crazy Balki]

They didn't like him at Georgia his first year, and his implementation was judged a failure.

The second year, there were some problems with it, but things were greatly improved.

By the third year things were off with a bang. What followed was about as stifling of a defensive implementation as college football has seen. Those next two years he won the Broyles Award.

Let us see how this season plays out.

BVG may have had less athleticism walking in to ND than he did at Georgia. There he put a First Rounder into the NFL (6) at least every year, including his first. At ND he came in with a different defense, manned by a different kind of player, in the bend but don't break 3-4 defense, built by Bob Diaco.

The other thing, if this does get lit like it did in Athens, BVG may be around for more than four years; which then would be a good thing!

From 2002-2004 BVG had one of the most stifling defenses in all of college football each year. 2001 rather good as well. No teams eclipsed 30 points against them. I think VanGorder's struggles so far can be attributed to 3 things for certain:

- Radical scheme change. As you stated, Diaco's scheme was practically a total 180 from BVG's. From a passive, gap control, bend-don't-break defense to a penetrating, aggressive, yolo-ish style defense.

- Depth and talent fit. From 2010-2013, we just did not recruit defensive depth well at all. We can also thank the massive collapse of the 2011 and 2012 classes, as they were a huge reason why there were so many struggles on this team last season. In addition, a lot of the talent didn't immediately fit well in a brand new scheme, it took time to adjust.

- New day and age. Offenses are faster, more dynamic and the rules benefit offenses moreso now than they did in the early 2000's. This can be concerning, but I'm not overly concerned that BVG can't adapt to it. He's a lot more advanced in defensive nuances than we probably assume.

There's also the theory that the scheme is too complex. I just don't know how much in entrenched in truth though. The most we have in terms of evidence is Max's comments, comparing it to Mandarin Chinese. That being said, how we haven't been able to get a MLB taught up to spell an injured Schmidt time may be a red flag.

 

[scUM Hater]

I realize Joe Schmidt is the "QB" of the defense. I just don't believe he has the athleticism to be a great player. Not sure how to write this to not piss people off. Can Jaylon not call the defensive adjustments? He has as much experience in the defense as Schmidt. If he could be that "qb" on defense maybe ND could afford to put a faster, more athletic MLB in the game. Joe just didn't have the quickness and that showed against USC by missing way too many tackles.

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[koonja]

I realize Joe Schmidt is the "QB" of the defense. I just don't believe he has the athleticism to be a great player. Not sure how to write this to not pissed people off. Can Jaylon not call the defensive adjustments? He has as much experience in the defense as Schmidt. If he could be that "qb" on defem maybe ND could afford to put a faster, more athletic MLB in the game. Joe just didn't have the quickness against USC to make any tackles.

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If Joe is the QB of the defense it's time to go wildcat.

 

[Irish2155]

If Joe is the QB of the defense it's time to go wildcat.

Y'all need to chill, a bit. Yes Joe has struggled BUT we've played a tough schedule to start the year and he was the best given the situation. Morgan will get plenty reps now...enough to own snaps at Stanford, which will turn out to be a play in game.

 

[BabyIrish]

Serious question:
Over the course of the season the D has really turned it on in the 2nd half of most games after having slow starts, particularly in our last 4 games. Is this due to halftime adjustments made by BVG or the D just getting a good pep talk? I honestly thought it would be the other way around where we start great on D and then teams adjust to us.

 

[IrishinSyria]

I still can't get over the fact that Joe Schmidt was covering Adoree on what looks like a deep go route or post on Redfield's pick. Kessler throws the deep ball there and that would have been TD city.

https://youtu.be/PF-LtEZNAP4?t=7m23s

 

[tko]

Joe was on him like glue as well, LOL.

 

[ulukinatme]

Saw this posted on Her Loyal Sons, and it got my head turning.

Caption this picture:

 

[phork]

Saw this posted on Her Loyal Sons, and it got my head turning.

Caption this picture:

How about: "Nothing to see here"

 

[Blaise]

Serious question:
Over the course of the season the D has really turned it on in the 2nd half of most games after having slow starts, particularly in our last 4 games. Is this due to halftime adjustments made by BVG or the D just getting a good pep talk? I honestly thought it would be the other way around where we start great on D and then teams adjust to us.

I honestly don't think BVG is very good at predicting what teams are going to do.. I think they get surprised at times in the first half, At halftime, they adjust and the team locks it down..

 

[GBdomer]

rian VanGorder received $1,106,156 in his first year with the program. By comparison, former coordinator Bob Diaco, now the head coach at UConn, received $672,824 from the school in his final full reporting period from July 2012 through June 2013.

We pay this guy a million dollars a year? Sorry if already discussed

 

[NDdomer2]

rian VanGorder received $1,106,156 in his first year with the program. By comparison, former coordinator Bob Diaco, now the head coach at UConn, received $672,824 from the school in his final full reporting period from July 2012 through June 2013.

We pay this guy a million dollars a year? Sorry if already discussed

The above was taken from ESPN....

 

[Irish#1]

rian VanGorder received $1,106,156 in his first year with the program. By comparison, former coordinator Bob Diaco, now the head coach at UConn, received $672,824 from the school in his final full reporting period from July 2012 through June 2013.

We pay this guy a million dollars a year? Sorry if already discussed

Those crazy eyes alone are worth $750K.

 

[rocket66]

Not worth it.


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[koonja]

rian VanGorder received $1,106,156 in his first year with the program. By comparison, former coordinator Bob Diaco, now the head coach at UConn, received $672,824 from the school in his final full reporting period from July 2012 through June 2013.

We pay this guy a million dollars a year? Sorry if already discussed

How does that compare to Michigan/OSU/FSU/Clemson/USC's DC?

 

[Rocket89]

Pretty big deal for future coaches on staff. The hire of BVG may be a black mark but one of Kelly's biggest legacies at Notre Dame will be his efforts to increase pay for the assistant coaches.

I hope that isn't lost on anyone.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Pretty big deal for future coaches on staff. The hire of BVG may be a black mark but one of Kelly's biggest legacies at Notre Dame will be his efforts to increase pay for the assistant coaches.

I hope that isn't lost on anyone.

And, that it was started before Bob Diaco left. I think the misleading nature of those two conflated stats is that Bobby D was offered more to stay, over a million, I believe, but he chose to take the head coaching gig. So what happened is that because Bobby D declined, in fact BVG benefited.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Stats for the defense in BVG's first two years :

Stats for the defense in BVG's first two years :

Monday, May 23, 2016 5:57 pm
The 11 Teams That Showed The Greatest Statistical Improvement Last Year
CS Staff

9.) Notre Dame, +8.8 Points Per Game

Notre Dame took a step forward in both categories last season, though it is the defense that was the headliner here. Notre Dame’s defensive improvement of 6.8 points per game ranked 21st in the nation, and sixth among power conference teams. Notre Dame hasn’t been hurting for solid opponents either. Clemson, USC, and Stanford all have very capable offenses, and even teams like Navy, Temple, and Pitt can put some points on the board. Brian VanGorder’s defense struggled in 2014, ranking 84th in points allowed per game, but he led a significant turnaround last year, and until the loss to Stanford, Notre Dame had a very good College Football Playoff berth claim.

Thought this would be a good stat to judge BVG's first two years, and then compare this coming year, for some [objective] answers.

 

[ScooterIrish]

More Stats

More Stats

Some more stats:

We were # 55 in 3rd down attempts against us. ('bama was # 126, osu # 116)

We were #116 in 4th down conversions with opponents converting 63+%. (14/22)

We were #45 in opponent red zone scoring percentage. We were # 95 in opponent red zone TD %.

78th in sacks, 92nd in INTs and 41st in total plays run against the defense.

All of that with 4 NFL draft picks on the field.

 

[Irish#1]

It's pretty simple. BVG has now had enough years to implement his defense and have his own players run his defense. There should be a marked improvement this year. If there is, he stays. If there isn't, I believe it's time for CBK to find a new DC.

 

[greyhammer90]

IMO I'm not even sure a top 30 defense (which generally should be the minimum standard of success at notre dame) would impress me next year. Our offensive schedule next year is terribad. A top 30 defense just gets me to hold off and give BVG one more year. A top 20 defense impresses me given the schedule. Worse than a top 30 means we should move on.

 

[IrishLion]

78th in sacks, 92nd in INTs and 41st in total plays run against the defense.

That is borderline abysmal, considering how BVG calls his games.